Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Infrastructure projects held up

Thiruvananthapuram: The City Corporation is finding it difficult to implement several priority projects taken up with external assistance, as the spiralling prices of fuel and construction materials deter contractors from bidding for infrastructure works.

Civic functionaries and beneficiaries are increasingly restive over the tardy progress of externally funded projects. While some projects have had no takers at all, in other cases, contactors are quoting much above the estimated cost to cover the cost escalation.

Mayor C. Jayan Babu on Sunday expressed concern over the delay in getting crucial infrastructure projects off the ground. In a candid admission while delivering the inaugural address at the half- yearly meeting of the Federation of Residents Associations, Thiruvananthapuram (FRAT), he said priority projects for water supply, sewerage and road development were bogged down.

The Rs. 215-crore sewerage augmentation project taken up with assistance from the Union government under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project (KSUDP), supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), had been held up by the failure to identify contractors for the construction of sewage treatment plants at Muttathara.

There were only two bidders for the Rs. 38.5-crore tender. While one contractor quoted Rs. 93 crore, the other wanted Rs. 113 crore. During negotiations, the bidders cited the rising input costs and the high labour component in Kerala to justify their rates. Moves are on to re-tender the work.

Officials fear that revising the estimate will lead to further delay. “Revising the rates will involve the clearance of the ADB board and the lengthy process in inviting global tenders,” says a project official. He points out that a revision will entail protracted negotiations between the Corporation and the government to work out an agreement on sharing the additional project cost.

The JNNURM project guidelines say the Union government will provide 80 per cent of the project cost as grant-in-aid, with the State government and the Corporation sharing the balance amount as well as any additional cost caused by the revision of the estimate.

Land acquisition problems pose another major obstacle to the projects. Sixteen new pumping stations will have to be constructed to link the outlying wards to the sewer network. This will require four to five acres of land at various locations. Repeated efforts to get the land have run into stiff public resistance. The Corporation is now banking on the government move to set up a special team for fast-track land acquisition.

Project managers believe that residents can be convinced to part with land for water supply and sewerage projects.

“Once the utilities are in place, the land prices in the area are bound to go up. Residents associations can play a key role in educating the public about the need to give up land for infrastructure development,” an official says.

The civic officials say only one bidder had responded to the tender for renovation of the water supply network covering Thampanoor and East Fort, one of the seven zones in the city. The sole bidder quoted 45 per cent above the estimate of Rs. 8 crore. The tenders for the remaining six zones are expected to be 35 to 40 per cent higher than the estimate. The project involves the replacement of old pipes and laying new distribution lines in areas not covered by the Japan Bank of International Cooperation project.

Similarly, there were no takers for the road development works that were tendered twice. The KSUDP is preparing to give it another try.

Project managers fear that a steep upward revision of the estimate will force the Corporation to levy enhanced user charges from the public.

The operation and maintenance of utilities constructed under various projects may pose another set of problems, in view of the move to increase the power tariff and other input costs. Under a government-sponsored agreement between the Kerala Water Authority and the Corporation, the local body will have to cover the gap between user charges and operation and maintenance costs. This, officials fear, will prove to be a drain on the Corporation’s coffers.

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